Q+A: Heritage in a city known for bulldozing its past

Civic affairs reporter Annalise Klingbeil spoke to Josh Traptow, the executive director of the Calgary Heritage Authority, on the latest episode of The Confluence podcast. This is an edited and condensed version of their conversation about all things heritage in a city with a reputation for bulldozing its past — listen to episode 15 of The Confluence podcast for the entire interview.

Q: Can you tell me more about the work the Calgary Heritage Authority does?

A: We’re an advisory board to the City of Calgary, specifically council and the mayor and city administration on heritage-related matters. We maintain the inventory of historically-evaluated sites, which is a list of all the heritage properties in the city. There’s over 800 on that list. We also promote and educate Calgarians on their heritage. I’m the one sole staff member of the Heritage Authoirty. The board is made up of 12 volunteers appointed by city council.

Q: What is it about heritage that interests you?

A: I’m a third-generation Calgarian, both my grandfathers were born in Calgary and so were my parents. Calgary has always been my home. One of my grandfathers had a sign shop in Inglewood for a large number of years — Taylor Signs. They were probably one of the last remaining sign shops that hand-painted things. My other grandfather was a firefighter, so has stories of the old fire halls and fires. It was largely just the stories that I heard growing up and the interest that I had that landed me in this job.

The Calgary Land Titles Office was demolished in 1970.Courtesty Calgary Public Library

Q: Why is it important as a city that we have and understand those stories from our past?

A: I was just in Boston and I was on a tour. The tour guide said, ‘This is probably the oldest building in Boston.’ I asked how old. He said, ‘I think it’s about from 1670.’ When you go to other parts of the world, you realize how young Calgary and Canada is. Calgary really only started around the 1860s, 1870s, (and) 1880s in terms of the Northwest Mounted Police coming here. We have a long Indigenous history.

I often tell anyone who listens to me, to get 100-year-old buildings, you’ve got to start with a 25, then a 50, then a 70, then a 100-year-old building. They don’t just grow overnight. Calgary, especially in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, tore down a lot of amazing buildings — like the old train station by the Palliser, the land titles building, the old Herald building, a lot of old hotels. Calgarians really want to save what they have left because in another 100 years, who knows what we’re going to have.

The old Calgary Herald building being demolished on Jan. 16, 2013.Postmedia Archives

Q: Every few months council gets asked to designate houses, schools, firehalls, buildings, or even parks as municipal historic resources. What does that title mean?

A: It basically means that no significant alterations can happen to the regulated portion of that property. Nine times out of 10, it’s the facade or the exterior that’s regulated, so you can’t make any changes to it without the city — a.k.a. the heritage planners — signing off on it. The goal is to make sure you’re not making any alterations that aren’t within the feel and look of what the property is. The designation means you can’t tear down the property, and you’re also eligible for grants.

Q: Beyond physical buildings, what else can be preserved from Calgary’s past?

A: Sidewalk stamps, manhole covers, also, steel-truss bridges. There’s always more than just built heritage — anything from sidewalk stamps to parks to streetscapes to boulevards. I love, in some of Calgary’s older neighbourhoods, when the trees form a canopy over the street. The trees give a feel that this neighbourhood started in 1924 or whatever it might be. There’s more than just built heritage, it’s the people who lived here, the stories they told, the lives they lived.

Josh Traptow speaks with Annalise Klingbeil on The Confluence.Kerianne Sproule

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